The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders, who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. - 2 Chronicles 22:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 18, 2019): 2 Chronicles 22

If you have a pulse, they will take anybody. The words are often floated more like an accusation than a recommendation. Those people over there, they will take anybody. They are not particular about the who; as long as you are alive, you are accepted. As I write these words, I admit that this is the way the church should act. No matter what, here you can find acceptance and forgiveness. Or, as one saint said, we don’t care what is in your past, as long as you are willing to make God your future. But even that is not quite “if you have a pulse” terminology. Maybe the church is more like a rehab center. We want you to be with us, but you have to want to get better. If you're going to explore the possibility of God, then we want to explore it with you. We love you if you don’t want to go down that path, but truthfully we are not much help to you. We find our purpose and our future in the things of God.

Chronicles starts off its discussion of the reign of Ahaziah almost with an apology. “This is how the reign of Ahaziah came about. Ahaziah was not qualified to be King; he did not have the temperament to be King. He had no desire to follow after the things of God, but he had a pulse. He was the youngest prince, and all of the older ones were dead. And so the people made Ahaziah King because they had no other option.”

It is not exactly a ringing endorsement for a new king. But when all you have is Ahaziah, then you make Ahaziah king. It was a dark time for the nation anyway. And in reality, the one year that Ahaziah sat on the throne was really the first year of the reign of his mother, Athaliah.

Ahaziah was unworthy of the honor of being the King of Judah and sitting on the throne of David, but the people could see no other possibility. And it might have been men like Ahaziah that worried God about this idea of having a king in the first place. The nation would be better off without a king than to have to suffer through reigns like that of Ahaziah because no guardian is often better than a bad one.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 23